Just Maui’ed

In the hotel lobby, there’s a lovely flower arrangement and I decided to add to my collection of pretty flower pictures. We’ve been teased on this trip for taking pictures of Hawaiian flowers like old ladies. I feel pretty secure about it considering I’m one of the youngest and as I embrace my 40s:



This morning I drove back down to Lahaina to go to the Extended Horizons dive shop where I had booked two shore dives. Shore dives, although very easy and simple, was a good way to get back in the water as I hadn’t dove for 3 years. Another option from another dive shop today was a hammerhead shark dive out on a boat charter, and I thought that would be a bit too hard and intimidating, although probably fascinating.

Gabi was assigned to me as my divemaster guide and is a Brazilian from Arizona. After preparing all the equipment, we drove to Kahekili Beach Park which was near the Westin. Here’s a photo of the beach and where we enter:



She provided a thoughtful orientation as I got used to all the equipment and communication signals and then we headed in. I needed a little extra weight to descend, but was able to last a 50 minute dive as I was afraid I would suck all my air. On the second dive, we were under for 53 minutes and went out a little further on the reef. I think I had too much weight at that point, because I had to work a little harder to rise and I think I was more used to my buoyancy skills on the second dive. We didn’t go deeper than 35 feet as we were just looking at coral near the shore. However, I saw a ton of fish and Gabi had a slate with her where she wrote all the species we were seeing.

Across the two dives, we saw Ornate Butterflyfish, Racoon Butterflyfish, Moorish Idol, Hawaiian Dascyllus, Manybar and Yellow Stripe Goatfish, Bullethead Parrotfish, Redlip Parrotfish, turtles, Moray Eel, Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby, Grouper, Brown Surgeonfish, Yellow Tang, Orangeband Surgeonfish, Lei Triggerfish, Reef Triggerfish, Belted Wrasse, Saddle Wrasse, Bird Wrasse, Hawaiian Cleaner Wrasse, Eightstripe Wrasse, Trumpetfish, Cornetfish, Black Durgon, Sea Cucumber, Christmas Tree Worm, Slugs, and Nudi branch eggs of Spanish dancer.

It was fun to see the fish swimming, resting, or getting cleaned at the cleaning station. But the highlights were the two turtles - one resting on the reef and another swimming nearby and the Reef Triggerfish. This fish is the state fish of Hawaii and in Hawaiian is Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. A googled photo here for reference:



Unfortunately, I have never invested in underwater camera equipment. If someone else on the dive takes photos, I ask for them, but as a relative beginner, I prefer to be hands free and focus on my own diving equipment, versus trying to get the photo for Instagram. Here’s are the orientation guides with the photos:





Afterwards I sat on the beach and dried up before heading to Roy’s in Kaanapali which is owned by the famous restauranteur, Roy Yamaguchi. He helped advance the regional Hawaiian cuisine movement and retains control of all the Hawaiian locations. Apparently his mainland locations have changed hands several times. I ordered a nonalcoholic citrus basil punch, blackened island ahi sashimi, misoyaki butterfish, and a chocolate ganache dessert overlooking the golf course:



After lunch I headed back to the Ritz where I rested and sat by the pool. Unfortunately, it started to rain, not heavily, but it was pretty humid.



Today’s big event was the wedding of my colleague Mindy. Another colleague of mine, Kevin and his wife Adrienne came to Hawaii as well. I told Kevin we’re Mindy’s wingmen as our offices literally sandwich her.

The entire wedding was supposed to be outside, but during the break in the rain, we had the ceremony only outside and then moved the reception inside. The reception and dinner were delicious. It was also very Hawaiian with macadamia nut ice cream and shaved ice at the dessert station. The night was filled with lots of dancing, including all the BTS English songs and then an after party in one of the hotel bars. Some photos below of the wedding and beautiful bride:











I was able to enjoy a drink at the after party, but headed back to my room relatively early as I was sleepy from my early morning scuba. 

It was so fun to see Mindy get married and after hearing about all the planning! I’m also excited to celebrate it again at the Chinese banquet back in New York this fall. Congratulations Mindy and Louis! And thank you for planning a wonderful few days for all your guests!

Under the Seagrapes

I was picked up today by Kyle again and at 7:30 am. We picked up a couple from Sarasota, a solo diver from Iowa, and 2 father-daughter pairs from Maryland. This was clearly DC spring break as there was a DC family on my dive yesterday. Our captain was Ty who I had last time I was here as well.

Our first dive was at Little Tunnels where our maximum depth was around 85 feet and we went through a tunnel. Immediately we saw a turtle hanging around. It was nice and deep with great sealife to admire.

Our second dive was at Balero, which was near Three Trees where I dove yesterday. As we descended, I immediately saw a turtle. We also saw a masked hamlet which apparently is a rare fish, a spotted drum, and tons of baby jellyfish. When we get to about 1,000 psi of air, we just meander below the boat go free time. At 800 psi, we are supposed to start our safety stop and ascent procedures. Folks started ascending while I was still at 1,100, so I was pretty good on my air. Usually I’m one of the first out of the pool, but this time I was nearly last!

We all checked out at the dive shop and Kyle dropped me off at Al La Kebab, where I picked up a chicken shawarma and walked a few blocks to Mikey’s condo.

Mikey and I then hopped in a car and drove to Kimpton Seafire’s beach. Here you can see him multitasking - working on his tan while responding to emails!



The sea is so blue and the sands so soft!

But due to the sweltering sun and Mikey’s phone alerting us it was too hot, we moved underneath some seagrape trees...

After the beach, we headed home and got ready for Mikey’s friend’s birthday party which was conveniently a few developments over. We saw many of the same people from last night and one of Mikey’s colleagues whom I met during my last trip to Cayman. 

We enjoyed food, lots of rosé, and a dip in the hot tub as we all chatted the night away under the Cayman stars!

Kittiwake

After Mikey left for work, I lounged around the condo and checked a few work emails. Here’s a photo I sent a colleague, Mindy, who was texting me....



I made my way down to the pool and soaked in the sun and read for a few hours.



Although I prefer morning dives so I can laze on the beach afterwards, Living the Dream was already all booked for the morning dives and therefore picked me up at 12:30 pm for some afternoon dives. Kyle was the guide who picked me up and Warren was our captain. Warren said he remembered me from last time, but he wasn’t in my blog posts - he conceivably could have helped with equipment. But I was surprised by his insistence as I thought all divers looked the same.

I was joined by 2 families - one from DC and another from Portland, Oregon. They both had teenage sons who were recently certified. 

Last time I was with such experienced divers who had been to Cayman often, I didn’t get a chance to dive the most famous and popular site, Kittiwake. So I specifically requested it and no one on the boat had been yet. 

Kittiwake is a wreck dive and was purposely sunk to create an artificial reef. The USS Kittiwake was used to rescue submarines and even helped recover the black boxes from the Challenger shuttle. We swam through the entire boat which now lays on its side due to storms causing the boat to roll over. 

Our second dive was a reef dive called Three Trees and relatively shallow. It’s called Three Trees because there used to be three distinct trees onshore that helped mark the dive site. Here’s a photo of the divers coming out of the “pool”:



After the dive, I was dropped off and relaxed and napped by the pool. Mikey came home and we went out to watch the sunset at the Royal Palm where we enjoyed frosé drinks. We met up with his friends at a craft beer restaurant called, Kraft. We were all celebrating the passing of gay marriage in the Cayman Islands. What a historic moment and day!

We ultimately decided to have dinner at Mizu, an Asian fusion restaurant which is in Camana Bay. We shared rolls and had a lovely dinner outside.

I’m psyched for some more diving tomorrow!

Aargh!

Today was my second day of diving. Living the dream picked me up and we were a combination of solo divers from: New Orleans, Omaha, Phoenix, Seattle, Rochester, and Sacramento.

Our first dive was at Ghost Mountain. Apparently the conditions are rare we can actually dive there due to strong currents - it’s at the intersection of where the west and northern corners of the island meet. Our captain, Christian, was super excited and he said it’s usually unbearable the same way the corners in NYC have the strongest winds and traffic.

This may have been one of my deepest dives to date - my dive computer said I went down 93 feet. Ghost Mountain was super cool and we saw all sorts of sea life. One of our divers struggled with his air and being able to drop, he later realized he was having equipment issues, and unfortunately he missed out on the dive.

The second dive was on the north wall, called Lemon Reef. We saw barracudas and many schools of fish. But the most exciting part was that a nurse shark basically followed us and interweaved between all of us the entire time, staying particularly close to our guide, Allen. All the divers were super experienced, so they were all carrying elaborate cameras and the shark was definitely playing to the cameras. When we started to ascend, the shark went and laid down underneath a shelf - we all surmised the shark just wanted to hang with us.

After our dives, they dropped us off on the northern part of the island at the yacht club. Here are some photos of the water while returning to land:





After settling up at the dive shop, I was dropped off at the same place where Burger Shack was located and went to Al La Kebab for a gyro pita sandwich. Mikey said it was delicious and indeed it was!



After digesting my lunch back at the condo, I headed to the beach and napped. This time I didn’t walk up Seven Mile Beach as much and hung out by some trees.





Like yesterday, I returned to the pool where I rinsed off the sand. We all spotted a pirate ship that was part of the Pirate Week festival down here:



Mikey returned from work and we ended up at one of his favorite restaurants, Agave, which is Mexican. I had a delicious mule drink, and we shared guacamole, red snapper ceviche, pork knuckle tacos, and a chorizo burrito. For dessert, we had fried ice cream. The service was great and I really enjoyed our meal.



We returned to the condo and tried to watch some TV, but fell asleep. The sun and heat definitely tire you out!

Living the Dream

Today was my first day of scuba in the Cayman Islands! Mikey had recommended a dive shop called “Living the Dream” and their boat even says “dream big”! Indeed life down here is positively good!



They picked me up at 7:30 am and couples from Denver, DC, Chicago, and a solo guy from Wisconsin were on our boat today. Everybody was really friendly and also more importantly, competent - we were all mindful and did not invade each other’s space which is common in group dives with varying levels. The dive shop was also really professional and helpful. Our captain was Ty and our guide was Matt. Here are a few shots on the boat:





Our first dive was at The Big Dipper, which was off the sea wall. We saw turtles right away and beautiful fish. It was also my first time not diving with a wet suit as the water is so warm. I had bought a rash guard for the trip as I knew this could be a possibility.

Our second dive was at Oro Verde, a wreck dive with a really cool history. It was a naval ship, and its sister ship was seized by North Korea! Eventually the boat was used to haul bananas, and therefore got its name as “Gold Green” as the bananas started out as green and would ripen on its voyage to Miami and make money for the boat owners. However, apparently, they may have been hauling marijuana too which led to a mutiny?! Here are more details: https://www.idivecayman.com/oro-verdes-untold-story

We saw sting rays, fish eggs, cleaner shrimp, and many schools of fish! My air management was better on the second dive, but we were also not as deep. It felt so different not being in a wet suit. On the boat, we had Rice Krispie treats and chatted about various diving sites, the cruise ship folk that can crowd diving sites, and life on the island.

I was the last drop off, so I asked Matt to drop me off at Burger Shack which is a few minutes before Mikey’s condo. Mikey had recommended it and told me it was better than Shake Shack which it was! I had fries with their jerk mayo and a cheeseburger back at Mikey’s condo. Here’s a photo of the shack:



After digesting my lunch, I walked up Seven Mile Beach and enjoyed people watching the various hotels and condo developments. It was also very windy - here’s a photo with my not-so-glamorous-post-scuba hair - I didn’t realize it was this glamorous due to the sun glare on my phone:



Here’s a better one - the water is so blue and clear!



After napping on the beach and wading in the water, I returned to the pool at Mikey’s condo and watched the sunset:



There was also a rainbow!



Mikey met me back at the condo and we had dinner at Cracked Conch - his favorite restaurant on the island. We had fried conch, conch ceviche, lobster, and red snapper. I paired my meal with their special pina colada and all was delicious! A collage below:



After dinner, we ran an errand at the local Costco type store and ATM, which happened to be where the Marsh office is located! I always remembered having to work with colleagues here during my 11.5 year tenure at Marsh. It’s nice to know they have easy access to wholesale items.



Then we returned home. What a fun day - clearly leading a life of cyn is living the dream!

Rosario Islands

Today we had planned to scuba and snorkel in the Rosario Islands, one of Colombia’s national parks. We booked with Dive Planet and met at the shop at 8 am after a wonderful breakfast buffet at our hotel. Here are a few photos on our colorful walk in the old town to the dive shop:

At the dive shop, we met a father and daughter from Florida and others. We piled into a van and went to the marina where we got on boats wth many other tourists. It seems that others were spending a day on the island to bike, canoe, take walks, and etc. The ride was about an hour and we got see a little of the port and the fortresses that were built to protect the city from pirates and during the colonial trade wars.





At the island, we were greeted with chilled towels and welcome punch drinks. We then got to the task at hand and picked out fins, masks, and etc. We then proceeded to the boat, navigated around the island to pick up others from eco-hotels on the island.

Our first dive spot was Punta Brava. We dropped off the snorkelers and then the divers plunged into the water. I was definitely more comfortable than on Tuesday and my toe felt less sensitive. So I finned more evenly and was not sucking as much air.

However, historically, I’ve only dived with a few people and we had a larger group of about 7 and therefore it took some coordinating. Still, we saw many schools of fish, lobster, and a barracuda. 

After about 45 minutes, we surfaced and met the snorkelers, and went back to the dock to swap out the tanks. Then we were off to Isla Fiesta, and here the coral reef was more alive. We saw many of the same fish and a very large snapper-like fish. We were under water for about 50 minutes, and again my buoyancy was better. During this time, Amanda continued to snorkel and got burnt as she was up at the surface. Unfortunately, I don’t have any underwater photos as our guides did not have cameras. 

We then returned to the island for our lunch which was chicken and rice. We had hoped for french fries per the website, but were disappointed. We then headed back to Cartagena and they shuttled us back to the city center. Here’s a photo of our ride back and a view of the city:

At our hotel, I rested by the pool to try to even out my tan / burn and Amanda rested in the room. We finally motivated and got ready to head out to dinner. Amanda had researched La Mulata known for their seafood. We ordered refreshing lemonade - one with mint and one with coconut, seafood, and shrimp in the sea themed decorated restaurant. Here’s a collage:

After dinner, we strolled back to the hotel as the city was becoming increasingly lively with music and folks milling about. I really enjoy the energy of the city!

Santa Marta

I woke up early to go scuba diving while Amanda relaxed at the hotel. We came to Santa Marta to visit Tayrona National Park which is known for hiking to beaches and scuba. So my hotel hailed me a taxi at 6:45 am and we were off to Taganga - a fishing village and a backpacker haven with many dive shops.

The ride was about 15 minutes to Poseidon Dive Center, a 5 star Padi shop run by Germans - I knew they would be legit and I could trust them. I’m technically Open Water Scuba certified, but really don’t go enough. I got certified just to feel more comfortable and safer in the water. As my last dive was several years ago, I had a “tune up” session. Our teacher was Jorge who was very nice and the other students were not certified and were just learning basic skills. It was an American uncle and his Colombia nephew on a family vacation, promised to the uncle”s wife who passed away from canacer last year. It was sad, but nice to see the uncle fulfill his promise.

Here’s Taganga beach where we climbed into our boat and a selfie during our ride to the dive site:





There were three groups on the boat - Jorge went with the uncle and nephew, three guys were getting certified, and I had Edwin as my guide. Edwin was very patient and kept elongating my name, “Cyyynthiiiia!”

We went on two dives, one at Cali Chan and Punta Aguja. We saw blowfish, trumpet fish, spotted eel, moray eel, lobster, and etc. I even got to hold a spider crab.





On my second dive, I lost one fin, got it back, then lost it again, and then lost the other fin. I really sucked a lot of air during this ordeal, but managed to get through it. They had me wear diving shoes because of my toe. Other than that, the dives were uneventful and it was like riding a bike. A few of the guys on the boat got nauseous, but I was okay as I took Dramamine. For lunch, we had chicken kebabs and packaged cake and guava jelly for dessert. Here are a few photos from our return trip:





Back at the hotel, I met Amanda at the rooftop pool. She had explored the town a bit and I was starving, so I ordered beef flautas and mango lemonade:



Amanda was enjoying our do-nothing afternoon and decided to take some fun rooftop photos. Here’s one:



We continued to relax and eventually headed out to dinner at a Greek restaurant where we shared several appetizers. I was super hungry and paired the meal with a rosé. On our walk, I got to see some more of the town that Amanda had explored during the day. We headed to bed early as we have an early day of trekking Tayrona!